The East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), Orlando Solar Bears and Visit Orlando announced on Wednesday that Orlando will host the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game at the Amway Center on January 21, 2015, as well as a week-long schedule of events and festivities that accompany the game. Visit Orlando is the presenting sponsor of the game and was a sponsor of the Orlando Solar Bears last season.

"We would not have secured this great win for our community without the leadership support exhibited by the City of Orlando and Visit Orlando," said Solar Bears Managing Partner and CEO Jason Siegel. "On behalf of our ownership team, staff, season ticket holders, sponsors and fans, we especially want to thank the ECHL Board of Governors for their vote of confidence in our ability to host one of the League's signature events."

Previous All-Star Games have generated millions of dollars for the local economy as guests, players, coaches and fans occupy hundreds of hotel rooms and spend several days in the host city. The game also has been available live on the NHL Network, as well as broadcast on multiple regional networks and satellite radio.

"We are delighted to be the presenting sponsor of the 2015 ECHL All-Star Game," said Visit Orlando President & CEO George Aguel. "We look forward to continuing to partner with the Solar Bears, the City of Orlando and the Amway Center team to enhance the fan experience and maximize visitation for the game while leveraging the week's events to heighten exposure for our destination."

The Orlando Solar Bears, the ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild and AHL's Iowa Wild, play all of their home games at the 2012 Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal Sports Facility of the Year, the Amway Center.

Visit Orlando proudly announced Tuesday, June 11 at the U.S. Travel Association's International Pow Wow in Las Vegas that visitation to Orlando set another record in 2012 by surpassing 57 million visitors. And to keep the momentum going, Orlando's attractions continue expansion plans in 2013 with an estimated $5 billion in capital investment improvements and additions across Orlando's tourism industry.

Among the expansions: the doubling of Fantasyland, making it the largest ever expansion of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando Resort's opening of Transformers: The Ride - 3D as well as the addition of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley and the recent opening of SeaWorld Orlando's Antarctica, Empire of the Penguins.

To ensure the destination can easily handle the increase in visitation, Orlando International Airport has laid out a plan to spend $2.1 billion on improvements through 2018. This would include a new 16 gate terminal and people mover, as well as self-service kiosks for international travelers, which have more than doubled over the past 10 years.

Visit Orlando is seeking an advertising agency team with extensive experience in consumer branding and travel experience to work with our internal team to deliver our global creative programming and domestic media buying. We are looking for an agency partner(s) to work with us on developing, executing and delivering a comprehensive advertising program that supports the Orlando destination and generates maximum exposure of the destination offerings to drive demand to visit.

Visit Orlando is also in the process of selecting a Digital Content Management Vendor to provide and maintain a comprehensive content management system that stores, categorizes, and facilitates controls over the distribution of images, logos, videos and audio content.